


Spark My Memory

by Wawa_Girl



Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: 12 Days of Starmora, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, No Spoilers for Infinity War, Post Infinity War, Romance, Team as Family, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-16
Updated: 2017-12-16
Packaged: 2019-02-14 23:53:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13018872
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wawa_Girl/pseuds/Wawa_Girl
Summary: "I just still feel bad I didn't know we were doing this. I don't have anything for you--" he said casually while lifting it open to the front page, not expecting there to be too many pictures inside. This team was well known tohalf-asstheir chores and activities, even during life-or-death missions, so their very first Christmas gift probably matched that habit. How many photos did they even have lying around the ship? Probably less than a dozen blurry and crumpled ones that had been stuffed into the slots, but it's the thought that counts--Peter's heart stopped when his eyes caught the first page.Written for "12 Days of Starmora."Day 11: Childhood / MemoriesandDay 12: Family





	Spark My Memory

"There is tape stuck on me."

"Oh, NOW you have tape!"

"I am Groot!"

"Shhh, you guys."

The sound of human footsteps went unheard as the group of six hovered around the workbench.

And their leader, curious and amused, chose to keep it that way, staying quiet as he watched their evidently secret task.

"I didn't miss a spot, _you_ were supposed to do this corner!" an angry voice scolded. "Ugh. We got this. Go set the breakfast table."

"I am Groot."

"We won't show 'im without you," a Ravager assured, hoping to save the duo's energy, and their stealth observer quirked an eyebrow while smirking at their obliviousness to his presence.

"Are you sure this is the right color?" an anxious female voice asked, causing many others to groan about how that didn't matter and they didn't have time to change it now.

"Guys, seriously! Shush!" the other woman said firmly. "Peter is a heavy sleeper, but he could still wake up--"

"Of course he'll wake up. You guys are louder than the Hindenburg disaster and a Super Bowl game combined."

All figures spun around startled, and Peter Quill full-on grinned at their reaction to him standing behind them in flannel pajama pants, a ripped t-shirt, and extremely messy bed head. Gamora glared at the others, placing blame on all but herself for his premature awakening, and Peter didn't bother informing that she had honestly been one of the loudest.

"What's going on?" Star-Lord finally asked through a yawn, ready to take responsibility for whatever screw-up his team was trying to hide, although surprised that Gamora would hide anything from him or take part in such bullshit.

Kraglin whistled nonchalantly, and Rocket just muttered "shit."

"Okay, how worried should I be...?" Peter asked, growing concerned at the silence.

Groot slid an obscured object over to Gamora, Mantis wrung her hands nervously, and Drax ripped a piece of tape off his bare chest without flinching.

Everyone exchanged glances. They were ready.

"Mary...Christmas?" Mantis said, unsure if she had butchered the greeting, as Gamora stepped forward to present an item.

"I am Groot!" the adolescent tree agreed with a nod.

"Wait, what?" Peter asked, taking the object from Gamora. It was rectangular, covered in white, dirty paper, and looked like it was wrapped by a blind kitten.

"Groot also said Merry Christmas, repeating Mantis' sentiment," Drax patiently explained.

"I know what he said!" Peter replied, still staring at what he was handed. "I meant...I mean...you guys got me a...Christmas present?" He knew this shouldn't be so baffling, but couldn't shake thinking this was a prank or very bizarre mix-up.

But there was Gamora to his left, a hand on his shoulder, smiling encouragingly. "Yes," she said, and placed a kiss on his cheek while all waited for his reaction.

There were so many questions.

And surprisingly, _'What am I holding?'_ was the last of them.

It was Christmas Day?

The fact that his interplanetary friends knew this before him felt... _unnatural_.

He did talk about Christmas every year, but had long stopped trying to pinpoint the exact date. It was always difficult to track down Earth calendars, and since the holiday's traditions were no longer part of his normal life, figuring out December 25th never seemed important. There were only a handful of dates he always remembered: his birthday, the day Yondu picked him up, the day _The Empire Strikes Back_ premiered in theaters, etc. Days of real significance.

And since telling the Guardians about Christmas, as according to Rocket he told them _'every skinned knee or trapped booger you ever experienced'_ , they never seemed invested in the holiday. The crew never celebrated together, and definitely never exchanged presents.

Okay, Gamora had seemed _interested enough_ in his childhood holiday tales, but they exchanged gifts other times throughout the year. The extent of his "Christmas celebrations" with his new family generally consisted of tossing Groot a snack and calling it _'a little Christmas gift'_ , humming the few carols he recollected, and playfully telling Gamora that the leaves above them resembled mistletoe.

"Ya, Christmas. The holiday you wouldn't stop gabbin' about when we were kids?" Kraglin cut through his thoughts, and the Terran looked up.

"The holiday you don't stop gabbing about _every year?_ " Rocket supplied in aggravation. "So show some gratitude and open it, Quill!"

"Is it too early?" the empath asked, looking nervous again. "Should you wait to open the coverings this evening?"

"They're called wrappings," Gamora corrected Mantis, and turned back to Peter. "And you told me that as a child you would open your presents first thing Christmas morning, even before breakfast," she said confused. This may not have been one of their common traditions, so his surprise and hesitation was understandable, but she still thought the concept was straightforward.

"Right!" Peter finally said, and shook his head to snap back into the moment. "Of course! Uhhh...thank you? Thanks! What is it--?"

"You tear off the paper to find out!" Drax declared.

Gamora's eyes bore into him, as did the eyes of everyone else in the room, and Star-Lord finally did the logical thing. He tore through the paper on the terribly wrapped gift, his curiosity levels about to burst over what they were so excited for him to see, and how dangerous it was going to be once unleashed.

The substitute "wrapping paper" fell to the cold floor by his socks as he examined the book in his hands.

Not a book, a...binder?

Scrapbook? Album?

Photo album.

"We made you a collection of pictures!" Mantis blurted out, and Gamora waved to shush her and let Peter discover for himself. Rocket rolled his eyes; Kraglin rarely looked so impatient.

"I see that," Peter said, examining the cover. It looked so much like the photo albums in his grandparents' attic when he was a kid, though the material and design was distinctly alien. It was surprisingly thick, pretty, and clean. The front window had their own _Guardians_ symbol printed in the center.

"Thank you, guys!" he said again, genuinely impressed. He smiled over at Gamora, who was still looking at him expectantly. The others held similar crestfallen expressions.

He wasn't downplaying their effort. He loved it, really. It was nice. Simple, but nice.

"I just still feel bad I didn't know we were doing this. I don't have anything for you--" he said casually while lifting it open to the front page, not expecting there to be too many pictures inside. This team was well known to _half-ass_ their chores and activities, even during life-or-death missions, so their very first Christmas gift probably matched that habit. How many photos did they even have lying around the ship? Probably less than a dozen blurry and crumpled ones that had been stuffed into the slots, but it's the thought that counts--

Peter's heart stopped when his eyes caught the first page.

"I..."

A hand unconsciously made its way over his mouth, his still half-asleep brain taking seconds to catch up to what he saw.

His expression was unreadable as he stared down at the images, and Gamora looked concerned that they had made a mistake. That the first portion of the present was inappropriate or crossing a line. They all thought he would appreciate it. Now they feared it was too much.

"Peter? Are you--?"

He nodded, not needing to hear her entire question. He slowly backed away and slid into a chair. Gamora followed and stood beside him, looking at the same collection she had helped their team assemble.

"You guys..." he whispered under his breath, his voice near inaudible. "How...how...?"

Spread out neatly across his lap were numerous photos of his mother.

In some pictures she was alone; in others she was with her parents.

Several were with him.

His fingers grazed over the center picture of himself at age eight smiling with his mother's arm around his waist, and his eyes became wet when they took in the one in the left hand corner of the beautiful, young, innocent woman smiling while sitting on a bench.

Peter finally cleared his throat and regained enough strength and composure to speak. "How did you get these?"

"Your grandfather's house," Mantis answered. "From before we left Terra. We...only took some, didn't want to intrude, but..."

Well, that made sense. And it answered his question of factually _how_ they got their hands, paws, and vines on the old photos now fully restored. But his mind was still swimming with questions that vaguely translated to _'But what made you think to take them?'_ and _'How did you choose such perfect memories?'_ and _'What would make you want to do something this...?'_

He looked up at Gamora in awe, in silent gratitude, hoping to convey everything he was feeling. She relaxed with a grin, and could feel everyone around them relaxing once it was clear Peter's reaction was positive.

He _did_ take a couple childhood photos with him, all including his mother, at the end of that visit. He would have felt crazy otherwise. He was finally able to have a physical memento of her likeness beyond his dreams and hazy memory.

But he had only taken three. It was all he needed. There was limited time, they were all exhausted, and the greatest object that reminded him of his mother was crushed by his biological father's hand. To take too many photos from his still living relatives who also loved and missed her felt like a dick move.

Now he couldn't believe what a lovely, respectable, honoring display he owned, could look at whenever he chose, given to him by his new family who never even met her.

When he wanted a safe place to view an old portrait, they were here. A series of photos of the most wonderful woman from Earth, holding him at two-years-old on her knee, pushing him at four-years-old on a swing, wearing a Jedi costume on Halloween next to his six-year-old self in a Yoda hat.

Waiting in line for some forgotten attraction at Disney World, shortly before her illness took over.

The two of them holding headphones to their ears in the car, and dancing in their living room on his eighth birthday.

Smiling in front of a Christmas tree on a morning just like this one.

"Thank you," he expressed, not even trying to hide his emotion. "It means so much. I can't believe you--"

"There's more," Kraglin said, and spun his finger in a gesture to keep looking.

Peter only laughed. Of course there was more. He gently turned some pages to find a whole new theme.

And another lost parent.

"Quite the photogenic bastard. Whodathought?"

Groot could be heard grunting in disapproval, with Rocket defending himself ( _'What? How dare someone speak the truth and lighten the d'asted mood?'_ ) while Peter tuned them out and fondly admired the pictures of his boyhood years among a Ravager clan, most featuring said blue jackass. Photos he never even knew _existed_.

He looked up inquisitively again.

"From Captain's security videos on board," Kraglin answered. "The ones he'd never erase. Paused and snap-shotted after I saved 'em," he explained with pride.

Peter looked down in shock. These were from those ratty old videos? They looked brand new. Pictures of Yondu placing him in a pilot's seat for a flying lesson at ten-years-old. Images of Yondu looking furious and dragging him by the ankles on the floor.

A photo of one of the rare times he sneaked into the Captain's Quarters at night when he was scared to sleep, hoping to all that was good that Yondu wouldn't wake up. Seeing the scene closer now, Yondu really didn't look like he was asleep.

Many of these pictures included Kraglin. The two of them as kids, as teenagers, all the way to the present. Moments when they were young and could steal an hour of fun, the weight of their anger, jealousy, and fear temporarily forgotten. Times when they were teens and sent off on jobs together because Yondu knew they made a productive team. And pictures since their Captain's death where the brothers listened to the Zune like no time had passed at all.

Peter was enjoying a particular photo of himself at age nine where Kraglin had him pinned down on _The Eclector_ 's floor to wrestle his Walkman out of his hands, while Gamora was pointing to one on the following page depicting Yondu presenting the youngest Ravager with _The Milano_.

"I detest your hair like that," she whispered in regards to the dark locks he had purposely styled over his eyes at age fifteen.

"Pfft," he laughed through watery eyes and faked annoyance. "I was trying something different!"

"I believe the correct word is 'stupid,' Quill. You were trying something stupid," Drax stated seriously.

"Thanks!" he replied sarcastically, knowing the false gratitude would be lost on him. "Thank you, all," he then said sincerely. "It's perfect."

"There is--"

" _More_ , I get it!" Peter interrupted Mantis with another laugh, and once again flipped through more pages to the next section.

No wonder this thing was so oddly heavy.

Thumbing through the album showed the rest to be filled with dozens, nay, _hundreds_ of pictures of the Guardians.

Family photos at the dinner table, around _The Milano_ and _The Quadrant_ , during a plethora of adventures and missions, and on every planet they ever landed. Enough group pictures to span the entire four years.

Pages dedicated to photos of Peter and Gamora. Slow dancing, cuddling asleep on the sofa, seated side-by-side in the cockpit of their ship, and striking a marathon of kickass or silly battle poses. A romantic kiss in front of a firework background. "P+G" inside heart shapes were doodled in the margins. Gamora gripped his shoulder tighter, and he smiled up at her again.

An entire Groot ensemble, with dozens of pictures showing the sweet tree's upbringing in his weird family. Dancing up a storm in his pot, climbing about where he didn't belong, and waving in the direction he was being recorded. The photos also showed his gradual aging as he got bigger and stronger, all the way to the annoying adolescent they all still loved and cared for. Peter felt like a parent being reminded how fast kids grow up.

There were single person photos of the subject smiling brightly ahead, looking fresh out of a professional studio, as well as photos capturing every combination of relationships possible. Some pages were full of random stills; many according to theme.

He settled on the fourteenth page. A photo of Peter and Rocket bickering while working together to fix an engine. Peter and Drax half-drunk at a bar, with the Terran rolling his eyes at the larger man jokingly threatening him with a knife. A particularly cute pair of photos of Peter and Mantis outside a dessert shop, the first with Peter making a peace sign behind her head to give her rabbit ears, and the one below it with Mantis using her fingers to give Peter fake antennae.

"Look, look!" Mantis bounded to where he was seated and tapped at the plastic protecting the pictures. "It's us!" she beamed at her friend in the hope that he liked it.

He remembered posing for those. Drax had been waiting outside the shop when the two exited with their treats, holding a camera and telling them to say "sneeze."

This whole album explained everyone's bizarre, recent obsession with snapping random photos. Many of these were candid, and several must have also been taken from security video footage, but others were clearly staged, and their leader had been too distracted when they were taken to recognize the pattern.

He just assumed Rocket was cooking up a blackmail scheme, or Groot had developed a new hobby outside of mindless, virtual alien-killing games.

This was more than Peter ever imagined when he woke up to the sounds of his idiot friends arguing over double-sided tape and colored paper.

And knowing it was impossible to view every single image now, he finally asked the burning question.

"Why?"

 _'How did you get the photos?'_ had clearly been established. _'How did you put this together so quickly?'_ was unnecessary, since this had obviously been in the making for some time.

But _why?_

The five in front of him titled their heads in concern, but Gamora understood what he meant.

"Why are you giving me this?"

"You have said that gift-giving was a popular tradition of this holiday," Drax stated slowly like it was an unintelligent question.

"And we figured physical, printed photos would make ya happier than holograms, 'cause you love all that simple, old-fashioned junk--"

"No, I get it, but--" Peter cut them off to voice his true question. " _Why?_ Why did you choose this Christmas to give me a present when we haven't the past years? And why something this...goddamn special?" It didn't make sense.

Gamora slid her hand down his arm and stood in front of him. "Because you deserve it."

Peter shrugged due to confusion again, and she began to elaborate.

"You regularly help lead this team, you helped _build_ this team, and this year you helped us all do the impossible." She said the next line barely above a whisper. "Thanos is gone."

"It is a relief to know that is true, and an honor to be in the same family as the one who made it happen," Drax said, and Peter felt humbled and ready to correct them. They didn't defeat Thanos alone. In reality they assisted plenty of other heroes, true superheroes, all far more powerful, famous, and capable than he could label himself--

"This circle of jackasses may not have been able to do it alone, but they couldn't've done it without _us_ either," Rocket added, as if reading his mind.

"And _we_ couldn'ta done it without _you_. Captain," Kraglin said with a respectful nod.

"I am Groot." The tree smiled with pride, and Gamora remained silent while he felt a familiar squeeze of his hand.

He was at a loss for words, their respect and gratitude for their multi-group accomplishment almost eight months ago overwhelming in the best possible way, and he knew what they were doing. 

They were cementing themselves as an unbreakable unit who weren't going anywhere.

That had always been true. He hadn't doubted it in years. But this holiday token bestowed upon him as a reminder of that, given the same year as their grandest battle ever, did not go unappreciated.

"And..." he paused, swallowing back the lump in his throat. "The Christmas part...?"

Mantis quickly jumped at the chance to explain this. "When we were all exploring on Terra after the fighting was over, we realized through media and research how major this holiday was in your culture."

"At least in the regions of Terra you lived as a child, it was a big deal," Gamora slightly amended.

"When we first started collecting pics and thought to throw 'em together for you, we figured no better occasion to reveal it than the sappy as shit one that we've never acknowledged since meetin', that you loved the most when you were a dumb, pathetic kid," Rocket summarized the decision.

"I am Groot."

"Yeah, it _was_ a far cheaper way to celebrate compared to blowing as much money as the rest of the humies there."

"I had considered it as an anniversary gift," Gamora began. "But we've never pinpointed an 'anniversary' of when we got together. The best I could think of was after Yondu's funeral, and didn't think that was a happy date--" Peter cut her off with an understanding nod.

"Plus it wouldn't have been from all of us!" Drax said while making a circle around the team.

"And this gave us more time to finish," Kraglin added.

"The idea really started _after_ Rocket took the photos of your mother from the house," the destroyer continued. "He was being his usual kleptomaniac self while you and your grandfather were away--"

"Wait, you _stole_ these from my grandfather?" Peter looked up stunned, and Gamora and the others winced uncomfortably, hoping the Terran could ignore that little fact about the present's origins.

"I am Groot?"

"Ya, you're surprised?" the raccoon countered like it was expected, and Peter looked down in his lap and sighed.

"No," he admitted, though unsure how to feel about that part.

"Anyway!" Kraglin walked in front of Rocket so he couldn't incriminate himself further and ruin all they'd done. "The rest of the idea grew from there."

"And we decided to include photos of all of us!" Mantis said excitedly, and the joke _'Because I don't see enough of you lunatics 24/7'_ was pushed out of his mind. He could be an asshole anytime. Not after this.

"Well, it's _very_ friggin' cool, _thank you_..." he said, and flipped randomly to the eighteenth page to find it filled with their original mug shots preceding their entrance into The Klyn. Peter's was the largest, rap sheet, middle finger, and all.

"NICE," the former legendary outlaw joked with a raise of his eyebrows. "Couldn't forget these, right?"

"Let you forget you were a sleazy, lowlife criminal before we straightened ya out? Fat chance," Rocket interjected with a pompous wink.

Gamora rolled her eyes and smoothed the top of Peter's hair, but he laughed off the insult. He was going to have great fun browsing and discovering what else was in store.

"I am hungry," Drax then changed the subject, and unceremoniously walked off into the kitchen now that the main presentation seemed to be finished. "Let's eat."

"I am Groot."

"I'm starvin', too. Let's not weep over these all day. _We've_ freakin' seen 'em, Star-Munch," Rocket said and scampered off, and Kraglin, realizing he was standing alone, made an awkward _'I'm gonna go with them'_ gesture and shuffled along.

"Come on, Peter. We'll show you more during breakfast!" Mantis waved for Peter and Gamora to join them as she followed the others.

Gamora extended her arm for him to take her hand, and Peter gladly accepted. He pulled himself out of the seat, holding the album close as they went to fill their growling stomachs and continue relishing this Christmas Day.

**********

If a picture was worth a thousand words, then Peter assumed a goddamn novel could be written based off his homemade Christmas gift, as he spent the hours bonding with his team over the album.

He learned that said team had ordered the entire galaxy _not_ to get into any trouble that would require heroic services for the entire day, so they could "spend this peaceful, loving Terran holiday without any imbeciles needing our help." Peter didn't know _how_ they had gotten away with such demands, but was _sure_ it would go over _great_ for them in the near future.

No complaints were made from Star-Lord that day. He behaved like a kid on winter vacation, staying in his pajamas for longer than Gamora deemed healthy, playing non-holiday music on his Zune, and navigating through the scrapbook his family had indeed given much effort.

"Hundreds of photos" was no exaggeration. The variety and magnitude of its content never ceased blowing his mind.

Nebula's several cameos, standing stiff in extended family photos, glaring menacingly at her idiot brother-in-law, looking disinterested at her nails while Rocket accidentally started a fire, twitching an upper lip at Groot giving her wide eyes, and hiding a smile in the few softer moments with her sister.

Rhomann Dey beaming with pride at his friends; he always did have faith that the now crime-free misfit bunch would achieve great things. The faces of many Nova Corps officials granting them honors. A variety of pictures with their new allies The Avengers.

Group photos with every valued hero who teamed up on Earth to destroy Thanos, and all the fun personal pictures that were snapped along the journey. Peter and Tony Stark with the space hero pushing the other out of the way, and Star-Lord high-fiving the teenage boy Rocket called "the smarter, less annoying Peter." The commenting on these pages was five percent pleasant reminiscing, and ninety-five percent Gamora giving Peter hell over that horrid mustache.

This keepsake even preserved mementos that weren't photos.

Plenty of Groot's drawings from when he was little made the cut, impossible for the adults not to find adorable. Crappy colorings of _The Milano_ soaring through space, his cybernetic furry best friend, self-portraits that looked like a mess of squiggly brown lines, and many other combinations of his family. Peter and Gamora's favorites were pictures where the couple represented his parents, cassette tapes with the film unraveling, and Yondu happily whistling a red arrow through the stars. Peter referred to them all as "art greater than the _Mona Lisa_ " in a way the teenage tree knew he was being mocked.

News articles depicting their bravest and lowest times, all deserving the highest bragging rights. Headlines from when "Star-Lord" was still an outlaw name, and others reporting on the Guardians of the Galaxy _saving the freakin' galaxy_ , including after they defeated Ronan, preventing Ego from expanding, killing Thanos on Earth, and every smaller job in between. Peter was a chronic pack-rat, and ever cocky about his resume, so he had many of these printed and saved in folders already, and loved the proud display of their accomplishments.

There were also hand-written song lyrics surrounding certain pages, _"It's a Beautiful New Day"_ below the most upbeat dance pictures, and _"We Will Never Break the Chain"_ under a group photo of the eight with their arms crossed leaning against a wall.

 _"Fooled Around and Fell in Love"_ and _"My Life, My Love, My Lady..."_ around Peter and Gamora's most romantic, sappy collages.

And someone had suspiciously vandalized a page of smaller pictures with silly additions, such as devil horns and target eyes. _Curious._

Breakfast was spent with Rocket threatening to _'...spill this juice on the damn book if you don't pass me what I ask for!'_ while his other friends who had better grips on their hair trigger tempers expressed their ability to balance eating and photo-viewing.

After that Rocket was left literally to his own devices, claiming that if he wasn't getting any gifts in return, he didn't need to _'endure the gushing over centuries-old pieces of paper'_ , which was his own way of saying he was glad the hard work and inspired creative ideas paid off.

Groot tried to be a good sport, happy his surrogate father loved the present he helped make, but soon grew sick of seeing pictures of himself when he was three inches tall and played baby games, and declared the holiday boring, choosing to sulk in his own room and play "much cooler" games.

Mantis was gleeful and downright giddy observing photos of her healthy friendships and beautiful family, but after dinner the enthusiasm began to tire her out, and she headed off to sleep. She gave Peter a tight hug, and whispered that she never felt his happiness so strong, tearing up a little knowing she participated in bringing that emotion out of someone she loved.

Kraglin and Peter spent a good chunk of time talking at length about each childhood memory from the photos, laughing at the scenarios involving Yondu at his angriest, silliest, and most privately caring. They took small solace in remembering the other Ravagers who had been lost in the mutiny, and Peter smirked at the red "x" marks over Taserface and the other assholes who wouldn't be mourned.

Eventually, however, Kraglin said that it was enough memories for one day and that he wanted to be alone, bidding his little brother good night. Peter understood, and continued flipping through pictures of his Space Pirate David Hassellhoff by himself.

Drax announced after supper that he would be sleeping sooner than most evenings, due to his early morning rise to assist in _'the joyful, heartwarming, paper-taping event'_." It wasn't long before the larger man's snores echoed throughout _The Quadrant_.

And only two Guardians remained.

**********

"She was very pretty."

Peter looked up at the Zehoberei with sad eyes. "I know."

Gamora was unsurprised to find Peter sitting alone on a couch, lost in thought as he looked again at the photos of his mother on the first pages.

"She looks like you," the emerald-skinned woman said softly. "She has your smile." It was the first, undeniable thing she noticed months ago. When she saw the first picture of Meredith Quill. 

It was _his_ smile. That _was_ Peter.

He shrugged in humble appreciation of the compliment. _Maybe._ He never noticed. It wasn't a comparison he would've made.

Gamora motioned toward the free end of the sofa, silently asking if she could sit beside him, and Peter childishly moved his legs across the rest of the couch to block her way. She scoffed and marched behind him to squeeze his sides _right_ where--

"Ahhaha! Fine, fine!" he squealed, and pulled his legs away to give her room, Gamora satisfied at achieving her main goal, though disappointed when he pouted away the tiny, forced smile she had tickled out of him. "Don't be evil," he said, shifting awkwardly. "Someone could still be awake."

She gave a small eye roll at his paranoia and took her seat.

The album was still steady on his lap, showing a photo of Meredith with her father, and one of all three of them when Peter was seven. Gamora smiled at one of the young woman appearing completely drenched walking in the front door.

"Getting caught in the rain?" she asked with a light-hearted tone.

"Ha, yep," he answered. He remembered snapping that one himself. They had forgotten an umbrella, so he was equally soaked and his shoes were slippery, his third grade photography skills explaining the blur and tilted angle.

He turned the page, and the paper on the underside caught Gamora's attention.

"I...I told them not to touch that." The irritation in her voice caused Peter to look at her in confusion. "I said it didn't need to be included, and it wasn't our business to take it from--from where you keep it." They must have slipped it in before she woke up to help them wrap. "I didn't know. I'm sorry--"

"Hey..." Peter put his hand over her's to stop her rambling. "I love it," he said truthfully, finally able to speak since she joined him. "I honestly love it."

 _'I never opened it until I met you,'_ his mind chose not to voice. Instead he decided on, "It's safer in here. I can still read it," he said regarding his mother's final letter to him. "There is nothing to be sorry about." He was touched when he saw its placement hours ago; Gamora must not have noticed.

"Okay," she whispered once she was sure, and Peter turned the pages to see a photo of himself and Kraglin, sunglasses scribbled over their eyes with ink, "Ravager Bros" written above them. Diagonally below it was a photo of Gamora and Nebula, tiny flower petals drawn around their swords, "Assassin Sisters" its caption.

"I didn't do _those_ either," she informed, and he smirked.

"Too bad. They're cool," Peter said, and flipped to another page showing a picture of himself aiming one pistol toward the camera and another near his mouth like a microphone. It must have been an older photo. He was wearing his headphones connected to his Walkman.

"But you did a lot," he said. He knew based on his own Sherlockian skills. This had Gamora's fingerprints all over it. There was no way it would've looked this neat, this beautiful, or this well-organized without her strongly influencing the project. "I can't believe you knew about it all this time."

"Well, telling you would have ruined the surprise," she justified.

"Ha, I know. I mean, it was very sneaky. I hadn't a clue."

"Completed and given on exactly Christmas Day, too," she said proudly. "Impressive, right?"

"Oh, _totally_."

It technically wasn't.

After Drax went to sleep, Peter's curiosity got the better of him, and he decided to track down what date it was on Earth.

December 22nd.

But hey, this band of galaxy heroes didn't need to know that, and he'd take an early gift any day.

"And there's plenty of room for more," she acknowledged. "Well, maybe thirty empty pages at the end, but they can be filled up nicely. We wanted to leave some extra for future memories."

 _More._ The very idea of more. The concept was overwhelming.

Four more years with this crew. Twenty more years. A lifetime with this family that sometimes he felt like he knew forever, and other times like he met yesterday.

"I don't deserve it," he mumbled. His usual narcissism was sure to return on schedule the next morning, but today they had done so much for him that it refused to surface.

After the life he'd led, this didn't feel earned, no matter their rebuttals.

Gamora put her hand on his face and turned him to look at her. "You said this holiday is about family. This gift is about your family. It's from your family. And it's in celebration of your family," she stated earnestly. None of it sounded rehearsed, but it did sound like something she believed with all her heart. "I lived under fear of Thanos my entire life, and that fear is gone thanks to _this_ family. You brought this family together. You are the reason I have a h--home," she swallowed the lump in her own throat. "We _wanted_ to do this. And it shouldn't matter that it's a present bigger than initially planned; you _do_ deserve it. Stop selling yourself short, Peter. We've all screwed up! Some more than others," she joked to gain a fraction of his winning smile. "You've more than proven yourself a hero to your planet and the rest of the galaxy. Everything else is over, and this is our life," she finished. "So accept the gift."

It was unreal. Gamora, who had also lost her parents in a horrific way at an even younger age, who hadn't a single photo or memento connecting to her homeworld or deceased loved ones, put so much heart into a collection celebrating his own.

"Ohhh, I friggin' accept it," he joked after her speech. "I just think Rocket is right. If we're gonna be celebrating Christmas regularly now, I'll have to get gifts for all of you."

"No." Gamora shook her head, already expecting this. "It is not our holiday."

"Drax always insists on giving us gifts, albeit frightening and unwanted gifts, for his solstice traditions. You knuckleheads are getting Christmas presents. It's only fair," he declared seriously.

"I AM GROOT!"

"Not tonight!" Gamora called out to the eavesdropping adolescent.

"Go to BED!" Peter hollered, and the couple waited for the grumbling voice and scratching branches to fade.

"Well, you'll need to wait 'til next year then," she said, resuming their private conversation.

"No, I have time. You know there's twelve _days_ of Christmas, after all," he teased and sat up straighter.

" _Twelve?_ " she asked, her eyes wide in shock.

"Mmm-hmm! And I'll get to break out Christmas _music_ , classic movies, disgusting fruitcake," he listed off on his fingers as Gamora's demeanor became greatly unsettled.

"Dear god. We've created a monster," she said, eyes darting back and forth.

"Damn straight. Now, for the tenth day of Christmas I would very much like ten dancing ladies, please."

"Peter!" she yelled with a glare, not amused.

"How would you like three French hens? Or perhaps a partridge in a pair tree?"

"I don't know what that is, and I do not trust it. Peter--"

"Are you sure that isn't mistletoe?"

_"Peter!"_

He crashed down so that he was lying on top of her on the couch and pulled her into a deep kiss, tucking the album gently into the cushions.

Gamora kissed back long enough to distract and flip him around so that he was underneath her.

"Ugh, always gotta be on top," he grunted, and she adjusted herself so as to not crush his lungs.

"Did you think it would ever be different from when we first met?" she teased.

"Only in my dreams," he replied. Gamora was oblivious to the fact that he was quoting a cheesy song lyric. Her only emotion was pure delight, because there it was - that gorgeous Quill smile that perfectly mirrored his mother's. One of the best traits the love of her life inherited from the woman Gamora would see only in pictures.

She placed her head down on his chest as they got more comfortable. It had been a success. Peter loved his present, everyone was happy, and there was a strong feeling of peace as they listened to the Zune playing quieter than average.

At some point Peter reached for the album and opened it up again, and the couple wordlessly viewed such irreplaceable gems as Gamora holding Rocket in the air by his tail, Groot climbing his way up Mantis' face, Drax and Kraglin dueling with a flying arrow, and the silhouette of Gamora resting her head on Peter's shoulder as they sat gazing through the windshield at a multi-colored void.

Their love no longer needed to be unspoken, but it still could be when they wanted.

"Merry Christmas, Star-Lord," she said softly, breaking the silence.

He stroked her silky hair that tickled his neck and mumbled his reply. "Happy New Year, 'Mora."

She didn't fully understand the follow-up greeting, but grasped the meaning behind it.

"Does it... _feel_ like Christmas?" she asked, wondering if the gift and the words were all it took to duplicate the extravagant Terran celebration. If any of it truly captured the holiday of his youth.

And Peter had to think. _Did it_ feel like Christmas? It was difficult to say.

 _Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree_ was replaced with _Come Sail Away_ as the current background melody. They had eaten meat for dinner that definitely _wasn't_ smoked ham. The weather was hardly cold where they parked on Xandar, not a snowflake in sight. The tree was verbal and moody rather than decorated, and the bellowing laughter of Drax was less charming than Santa Claus.

The only "toys" on board could blow up a small city, the wrapping paper was extremely simple, there was no talk of a savior born in a stable, portions of his present had been stolen from his relative, and the mistletoe was imaginary.

But he was with family. He was loved.

He was warm, he was full, he had received one of the best gifts in his life, and felt the most _content_ in his whole life.

And if he was forced at gunpoint to rank them, this would certainly make his top five best December 22nd's.

"Not...really," he finally answered Gamora's question, and saw the twinge of disappointment as she nodded.

"It's _so_ much cooler," he said, before tenderly kissing her again, as they closed their eyes, and the album, for the night.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope everyone enjoyed my submission for the last two prompts of "12 Days of Starmora." I'm very happy I decided to participate, and apologize that I didn't fill the other 10 days.
> 
> I'm _always_ grateful for feedback, and thank you so much to the hosts of "12 Days of Starmora" for creating great material, inspiring this and many other fan works, and being such kind and awesome fans all year round!
> 
> Happy Holidays, thank you for reading, and the Happiest of New Years to all!~
> 
> My _Guardians of the Galaxy_ tumblr is [here](https://marypoppinswasmyfatherbitches.tumblr.com/)!


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